Shaka Inkosi YamaKhosi

Abstract

Shaka Inkosi yamaKhosi is a short animation film that is set on the narrative of uShaka ka Senzangakhona – the ruler of the Zulu kingdom/nation. A short synopsis is presented below before a full description of the work ispresented.

A young meek boy, Manzini is bullied by three boys on his way back from school in an incident that almost costs him his life. Manzini confesses to his Gogo his desire to quit school. His Gogo narrates a profound tale of resilience evoking the coming-of-age story of a great King, Shaka Zulu, to inspire her grandson through the strength of his lineage. Transporting viewers to the 1700s in the grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal, Queen Nandi gives birth to uShaka who was illegitimately fathered by Senzangakhona Ka Jama a prince of the Jama tribe. We follow the grooming of uShaka into a conqueror and influential King of the Zulu kingdom/nation. Composing the score for this short film was an interesting but challenging project where the emotion and tone of the picture were influenced and informed by the score (music). This project sought to use amahubo akwaZulu and some indigenous Nguni instruments as the foundation of the score.

The instruments I speak of are uGubhu which I sampled recordings of Princess Magogo ka Dinizulu in one of the scenes as a commemoration of the Princess because she was a musician herself and has strong ties with the Zulu lineage.This was one of the most difficult task because of many factors like the caliber of the instrument’s temperament, it neither 440 nor it is 442. I figured out that voicing plays a big role in hiding those imperfections within a chord or a progression. Open Fifths in the lower instruments such as double basses and Cellos accommodate the tuning differences all of these instruments have. The other challenge was the meter; the way she played her instrument was rubato but with a strong sense of structure, and with that, I was confident that there was some meter, which in this case ended up being 5/4 or 15/8. You can listen to this section at 05:54.

The music score featured my original compositions and my arrangements/orchestration of traditional Zulu themes that were either sung before, during, or after the war (War cries), nursery rhymes from the Zulu culture, and a composition by King Shaka Zulu himself. My primary duty as the composer and arranger was to orchestrate all the above-mentioned music whilst preserving the authenticity of these themes. This was a strong effort towards contributing to decolonial projects that are emerging and the eminent 4IR since this project used animation as the medium. Animation availed the opportunity to introduce these indigenous themes to the younger generation who as per our prediction will be the consumers of this project and future custodians of this African heritage. Due to the lack of accessibility of these themes, this was a rare opportunity for me to be deliberate in making sure that these themes are at the forefront of the orchestration. One of the other interesting encounters I had while writing this score was how most of our themes do not have equal numbers of bars like the one featured at min 09:53 which is a call and response theme, the structure of the theme is 3+2+4+2 and the last 2 comes from the caller which I decided to also write in 5/4 and was divided in 3+2, This meant that the melody will shift within the bar line for 13 cycles before it goes back to 1. The narrative of the short film is told in juxtaposition between the past and present and the decision came from the music suggesting those undertones due to implementing modern instruments to these almost forgotten themes.